So it’s still too cold here in Raleigh, N.C.  Not only is it still too cold, the weather experts are now calling for snow here on Christmas Day!!  We haven’t seen snowfall on Christmas Day, they say, since 1947, but this could be our lucky year.  And not only are they calling for snow Christmas Day, Christmas night, and December 26th,  Accuweather.com is even predicting that it will be a “two-loafer” storm.

Never heard of a two-loafer storm??  Well, here in the South, when any amount of snowflakes are predicted, we stampede the grocery stores to buy loaves of bread and milk.  Why?  We just do.  Well, I actually didn’t mean “we;” I meant people around here do.  (We in the Callahan household are more likely to make a run for beer, chips, and movies.)  Now, you can’t actually blame us Southerners for trying to prepare by stocking our pantries, because when it does snow we’re pretty much trapped at home.  Our community doesn’t need to invest in lots of snow-removal equipment that would just become rusty from disuse year after year–normally.  Our citizens don’t need to invest in snow tires or chains that would rarely be used.  So we rush to the store, stock up on bread and milk, and stay home in wet, wintry weather.  We enjoy the slower pace, family time, and have all the makings for French toast.

The way this winter is going, I may soon be saying “Life just like in Canada,” or something along those lines.  Hope not.

That’s Life in Raleigh.(I think)

It’s still too cold for December in Raleigh, N.C.  While it’s not yet time to call for breaking the coldest-winter-on-record mark that we set last year, our local meteorologists have declared that we have just finished the coldest two weeks in December here in Raleigh. That’s not news to us.  I bet we’ve also set a record for how many times so far this December we’ve had snow/sleet/other stuff we don’t like around here.

We just had another round of wintry precipitation yesterday.  Even though it didn’t stick this time, we still have traces of our previous rounds!  My neighbor’s snowman is still hanging around, even though he’s now just a lump.  I hope he’s gone soon.  Enough is enough.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

It’s too cold for Raleigh, North Carolina, in the first week of December! Today our high temperature is forecast to reach 35 degrees.  Oh, plus we need to factor in what has to be gale-force winds.  What?!?  And you don’t have to look very hard to find leftover bits of snow on the ground from Saturday’s dusting. Our normal high for today is 55 degrees.

Looks like we’re off to a good start if the goal is breaking last year’s coldest-winter-on-record mark.

That’s Life in brrr-Raleigh.

Our city suddenly looks like it was created on a Lite-Brite screen. After months of endlessly lush green leaves and landscaping and with the calendar creeping closer and closer to Thanksgiving, it was starting to seem as if we weren’t going to get any fall color at all here in Raleigh this year.  But then this week rolled around and….BAM….here it is.  Just like that.  Beautiful, amazing colors everywhere.  I hope they hang around a while.  I want to enjoy them as long as possible…..before they turn brown and I have to get out my rake.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

My daughter and I had such an impressive experience with this physician group yesterday that I feel compelled to share our experience and my opinion that they are a valuable asset to our community!

Triangle Orthopaedic Associates opened up their 8 local offices yesterday from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00  p.m.  to provide the health physicals necessary for local high school athletes in order to compete this academic year.   For a $10 fee, student athletes had their basic level of health checked and their forms signed.

The beauty of the assembly-line style of wellness checks was  quite an amazing sight, too.  Get your eyes checked in this room.  Walk down the hall to get your blood pressure checked.  Height and weight in this room.  Doctors waving the next kid into an exam room for the final check.  While in the exam room with the physician, there was no rush, however.  The doctor asked many questions, offered advice, and made us feel as if my daughter was his only patient.

Now, of course, not being completely naieve, I realize there’s a business angle to this community service by Triangle Orthopaedic Associates, in that if these student athletes experience a sports injury, they will be predisposed to visit one of Triangle’s physicians for treatment.  But a smart business practice does not detract from the generous donation of offering your expertise to the community in this way.

Oh, did I mention that they are donating the $10 fee back to the athletes’ schools?  Win, win, win.

Whoa, it doesn’t take long for a bragging big mouth to take a big fall.  What a quick turn-about from my brash statement of “game over” to actually being the loser of the game.  I spoke way too soon in declaring my gardening victory over the squirrels.  I may not be capable of creating a squirrel-proof area for my tomatoes after all.  They have figured out my contraption and are stealing red and green tomatoes at will.

With my awesome new plan already worked out, it’s tempting to start counting those tomatoes before they’re even planted.